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Hmm, I did all steps and put the camera back together and what do you know, it worked great! The procedure was relatively easy, ESP. since I've never done a job this intricate.

It seemed that it wasn't a dirty lens problem to me that is causing the lens to go in and out, but a dirty, partially stripped gear. It could be a combo though... The gear is located in the left side of the last photo in a recess next to the lens. This gear is easy to access. Complete all steps as shown, then turn over the camera and tap it a little. The gear will come out.

A couple final notes: a. Remember to take out the battery and memory card first. b. The screws are on pretty tight, Nikon probably used Loctite, so be ready. c. get a quality screwdriver. Mine was a Husky, but by the time. It was done one of the blades chipped off. d. Finally, when you are done, boot up and reset the camera's date item hour and turn off. Then reboot and you should be good to go!

Thanks for posting this. One thing of note, you will get a shock from the flash capacitor if you are not careful. I don't know how to discharge it so I will be more careful next time. My camera got dropped (not by me) and would get intermittent lens errors. Using these instructions I was able to find that one of the small copper windings under the lens (I think its a magnet or part of a stepper drive) was loose. I glued it back on and the camera works again. Unfortunately I think the CCD also took a hit because there are lines on photos but not on videos or the LCD preview screen. I found a cheap CCD online so I am going to swap it out to see if I can fix it. After the drop the camera was a throw-away but I like to fix things so this might work out.